


Fruit Loops and Secret Santas

by whimsicalmuse



Category: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: First Time, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-08-23
Updated: 2004-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-07 20:31:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7728739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicalmuse/pseuds/whimsicalmuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dom's life changes, over a bowl of fruit loops. Xmas fic challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fruit Loops and Secret Santas

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Shirasade: this story was originally archived at the [Monaboyd.net Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Monaboyd.net), which was closed in September 2014 due to software issues and a lack of new submissions for several years. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in October 2014. I e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Monaboyd.net Archive collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Monaboyd_Archive/profile).
> 
> \----
> 
> A/N: I picked up the thuribrandybuck’s secret santa challenge in exchange for her first born, or good M/P p0rn-whichever comes first. This fic was requested by eleanor_lavish The requirements where: Dom/Billy with $50 Blockbuster Gift Card and a Hat as one of two gifts. Hope you like it Eleanor! Special thanks to my beta, Chrisita who seriously, got this beta’d in like, one hour. She rox.

December 16th

Looking back, I can say it was all Astin’s fault, and it began over a bowl of Fruit Loops. Yes, I said Fruit Loops. You know the cereal, little sugary rings of pink, purple, yellow, blue, the rainbow actually, and each ring is _supposed_ to be flavored with the appropriate fruit, i.e. purple for grape, (though I admit I never truly understood exactly what fruit blue was trying to be). At any rate, it was over Fruit Loops and because of Sean Astin, that my life, as I knew it, was turned upside down.

It was in Feet and we were having breakfast. As usual, Sean and Elijah had begged for some American food to be shipped in, and the quality breakfast cuisine for the day was said Loops. Elijah tore into the fare like a hyena, Sean grinned and scooped up a handful, (along with some toast, bacon, eggs, and hot chocolate), and Billy, true to form, politely refused, and enjoyed his quiet bowl of porridge.

I was well into sleepily pondering the meaning of life (while unsuccessfully trying to get just one loop to stay under the pinkish milk with my spoon) when suddenly Sean stopped droning on about hs wife, and family and other responsible duties, and an expectant silence filled the room. It was only when Billy coughed politely that I realized I had been addressed and not noticed. They couldn’t blame me; I was and am not a morning person. I peeled my eyes from a particularly snarky green loop, and raised my eyebrows in question to Sean.

“What?”

He sighed irritably, and bit a hunk out of a piece of sausage he had nicked somewhere along the lines.

“I said, do you want to join in?”

I wish I could say I knew what he was talking about, but all I could focus on was the little bits of bread and meat that kept playing peek-a-boo with me when he enunciated every word. Something in the sparkly glint in the man’s eyes told me I had zoned out longer than I thought, and he was out of patience - a rare thing for Sean, really. Something in Elijah’s eyes told me he would all but cry if I refused to join whatever Sean had cooked up, and I was pretty sure his being homesick and away for the holidays greatly influenced this current state.

Hey, I might zone out, but I’m very intuitive.

I wish I could say that these two factors alone made me come to my decision, but I’d be lying, and I’m nothing if not honest. No, it was the something in Billy’s eyes, painfully bright green as spring and crinkled with a warmth that was all mine for that moment, that was what made me blindly agree to join this mystery project of Sean’s. I can admit that.

“Sure, I’ll join.”

Elijah smiled and Astin nodded, before producing a small strip of paper, and passing it over to me.

“Here, put your name on this, fold it up, and we’ll draw them out after I shake this up.”

I did as instructed, and Sean plucked up my favorite hat, a black wooly fedora-a gift from my brother, and gave it a good shake. He then passed the hat to Elijah, who in turn, plucked a piece of paper from the hat, and quickly put it in his pocket.

He eyed Sean with mock sternness, and remarked, “So you don’t try to cheat and figure out who I have.”

Sean just rolled his eyes, and offered the hat up to me.

“Your turn Dom.”

I cocked an eyebrow, still not entirely understanding what I was involved in, and pulled my slip of paper from the hat. Following Elijah’s example, I tucked my paper into my Merry vest and watched with half-hearted enthusiasm as Billy and Sean pulled their piece of paper from the hat and pocketed their pieces. Still a wee bit sleepy and a bit confused, I turned my attention back to the lady who was near finished attaching my feet on, and moments later I was free to be Merry.

Elijah cornered me as soon as we exited the trailer.

“So, who did you get?”

I looked at him quizzically for a moment, before the preverbal light bulb when off in my head. Ah yes, the paper.

“Oh, dunno, I haven’t opened it yet.”

He pulled his thumb from his mouth, and poked me on the chest.

“Well do it! I’m dying to know! We can go out together to get them their gift.”

“Gift? What kind of gift,” I mumbled as I dug into my vest and began to smooth out the neat precise folds in the paper. Boy, whoever folded this sure was a stickler for order - therefore he couldn’t have been Elijah.

“Any kind of gift, something the person likes, the limit is $50 bucks. You’ve never done a secret Santa exchange before, have you?”

I shook my head no, struggling to balance my jacket on the crook of my arm while opening the paper. As the name written in blue ink came into focus, Sean opened the door with a startling “Bam!” and Elijah all but jumped out of his skin guiltily.

“Oh, no you don’t! Get away from him, Elijah, no sharing!”

Elijah looked properly admonished, and backed away from me.

“You guys can wait until the 15th, that’s just three damn days away, now be off!”

He waved us in our respective directions, a smile on his lips, with only a brief pause to glance at Billy for a moment, before ambling up to Elijah, to go be Sam for him. Billy scooted up to my side, a small smile still on his lips.

“Do ya like who you’re going to play secret Santa for?”

I nodded, and gave him a sidelong glance.

“How about you? Is your hobbit hard to please?”

Billy shook his head and laughed.

“This is probably the silliest damn exercise I’ve ever been in. There are only four of us in the group; it’s not like we couldn’t have just gotten each other gifts out in the open. But no, my recipient isn’t hard to please. What’s hard is figuring out what he wants for the holiday.”

_If I were your recipient, I’d say I’d want you for Christmas._

I swallowed hard, lest my thoughts would be voiced, and smiled.

“Doesn’t matter Billy, whatever you give, so long as you seemed to put thought in it, it will go over well.”

Billy just nodded solemnly, and we made our way to face the day as hobbits.

December 13th.

“You get your gift yet?”

Billy looked at me over the neck of his beer, and in the lamplight, his lashes cast a shadow that hit his skin like a delicate spider’s web. I snorted at my poetic fancy, and shook my head. I had to be buzzed.

“Knowing me, I’ll get it at the last minute, on the way to Sean’s house no less.”

He snorted into the mouth of his beer, and a few droplets slipped down onto his chin. I bit the inside of my jaw to stop myself from licking the cool amber rivulets.

“How about you? You figure out what your mystery hobbit wants?”

“Nope.”

I shrugged, and turned my attention back to the telly. We were watching the some American movie that had been dubbed a “classic” about a little blond bloke. His name was Ralph or something like that. I admit I wasn’t exactly paying attention, not when I had a warm Billy sitting comfortably next to me.

“Dommie, what do you want for Christmas?”

I turned to face him, a bit disarmed by the thoughtful expression on his face, and against my will my first thought came pouring from my mouth.

“You.”

He snickered and tossed a throw pillow right at my face. Thank god he didn’t know me well enough yet to know when I _wasn’t_ taking the piss out of him. I laughed hard, from the sheer joy of him not figuring out my error, and turned back to the telly.

“I dunno what I want Bill.”

“I know what I want.”

I turned to face him, once again a bit ruffled by the serious tone of voice. I wondered how many beers he had had before I arrived; his eyes looked like liquid forest.

“I want to not be alone for Christmas. I want to be surrounded by someone special, someone who makes me happy-“

I felt my heart start tap dancing on my spleen somewhere, because I recognized that tone of voice. That was the voice of a man in love, and I knew he wasn’t sparking for me. I wondered who was the lucky lady. I could have kicked myself for not being more observant. He had been so quiet lately, so pensive, and no wonder if he was pining away for a girl, and didn’t talk to anyone about it. I swallowed my disappointment, and placed a hand on his shoulder gently.

“So does she know?”

He wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion, and placed his beer on the table.

“Who?”

“This bird you’re in sparking for. Does she know yet, or are you waiting for the holidays to break the news to her?”

He looked down at his palms, then mumbled, “No, he doesn’t know. And I don’t think I’ll end up telling him anytime soon.”

Four beats. It took exactly four heartbeats, before I realized, he said “he”. _And the knife twists in deeper._ It’s one thing to lose your best mate to a girl, that is expected, girls are pretty, and they have the ability to have babies and bring about a normal life. But a guy? Man, if it was Elijah I was going to pull my hair out. Then again, maybe I had misheard him.

“He?”

“He.” He mumbled, and his hands snatched up the beer.

His voice had just an edge to it and it occurred to me that my question might have gone over as being a wee bit insensitive. I leaned in closer, my eyes trying to pull his gaze over to me so that he might see that it didn’t matter to me, but he suddenly found the movie more entertaining that addressing the fact that he had just told his best friend that he wasn’t entirely straight.

I bit my lip, and turned back to the movie. Little Ralph was using some kid’s face for a punching bag, muttering curses under his breath.

I knew how the guy felt.

 

December 14th

“Billy’s pissed at you, I hope you know.”

I looked at him, over the top of my script, and scowled.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

I turned and crossed my legs, hoping he might catch my body language and leave me the hell alone. I didn’t need him to tell me that, the Scot had all but barked a hello at me this morning and his lips were thin slits when he walked me to the door at the end of the Raphie movie.

He didn’t even give me his customary kiss goodnight.

Ok, ok, so he never gave me a kiss goodnight, but still. Bottom line is, once again my thick skull had gotten us into some serious hot water, and now he hated me too much to let me make amends.

Elijah still stood there, his lips curling to form the words he seemed to want to share. Astin appeared, out of thin air if you ask me, and with a silent stare, pulled Elijah away.

I sighed and went back to my reading. I knew Billy, he would come around soon enough, and when he did I would apologize.

A football chose that moment to fly into the back of my head, _hard._ When I turned around to glare at the culprit, I found Billy running up to me, lips parted slightly from the sport. His eyes flickered up to mine, before he plucked the ball from the ground, and ran back to join the group of men who were playing with him.

“No, no, it’s ok mate, I’M FINE.”

His response was a rather crooked finger, which I sorely hoped he would break during the course of the game. I turned by attention back to the script, and found I didn’t care what the words said anymore.

December 15th.

“Now remember, Dom, dinner starts at 8:30, so don’t be late please? Oh, and there has been a slight change of plans.”

I pulled on my jacket, and fished for my keys. True to form, I would have to get Elijah’s gift on the way to the dinner.

“What’s that?”

“We’re not having it at my house, it’s going to be at Billy’s. Christine is having a playmate for Ally over and since this exchange is between us…”

I admit I wasn’t paying much attention after “Billy’s”. Great, just great, now I would have to sit in the cranky man’s house for hours, watching him glare at me from across the table. My eyes flickered to his mirror, and I saw a picture of all of us, piled into a booth, smiling. Elijah had gotten shitfaced that night, and ended the evening demanding “Porn and Chocolate.” Ah, those were happier times then. Inspiration struck me, and I smiled. I knew what to get Doodle now.

“Oh, ok I’ll be there.”

I turned and made my way out of the trailer, with the intentions of making a beeline for the nearest Blockbuster video.

*

“Dom! You made it, and only,” Sean raised his watch up to check, ”Thirty minutes late.”

I shrugged off my jacket, which landed somewhere on the back of a chair, and mimicked the same action with my shoes.

“Thanks, I was stuck in the line in the store.”

Billy was in the kitchen, humming to himself, and I perked my ears up to listen, as every third bar or so, he would sing, his lilt softened by the lyrics.

_“What is the force that binds the stars? I wore this mask to hide my scars…”_

I smiled softly, a warm buzzing settling somewhere under my throat, and padded into the kitchen to hear more. His voice was just lovely, and would shock you with the range and power behind it. As soon as I arrived in the milky glow of the kitchen, he stopped singing, and nodded a silent hello at me.

“You should sing more often, Bill.” I didn’t bother to hide the raw fondness I always felt, but never fully expressed.

“Thanks.” The corners of his lips curled slightly, and he removed an oven mitt and placed them on his counter. His shoulders relaxed a bit in the dark green tee he wore.

I shoved my hands into my pockets, and continued. We couldn’t go on being angry with one another; we were Merry and Pippin. I would take advantage of our current trajectory - I had him cornered in the kitchen.

“Bill, I’m sorry about the other night. I didn’t mean to sound like such a prat.”

He took a sip of wine and shrugged.

“I shouldn’t have sprung news like that on you. I just never knew you would have a problem-“

“I don’t have a problem with it, Bill. I never did.”

Billy looked at me incredulously, then continued.

“Then why did you sound so upset?”

I hesitated a bit, how could I tell him the real reason, that I was jealous? He worried his eyebrows, once again misunderstanding me, and snatched up the glass of wine. I knew he would try to leave, and braced myself for having to hold him while I stammered some kind of excuse.

“Forget it. Sean, the bread won’t be ready for another five! I’m going to change my shirt-“

“Don’t, Billy, you’re misunderstanding me.”

I grasped him by the shoulders, and parted my legs a little to hold him back. He had moved fast, and was nearly out of the doorway to the kitchen before I could hold him still.

“Dom, I don’t want to-“

“What did you say? I couldn’t hear over Elijah’s music, the damn kid always-“

I turned around briefly, startled by the arrival of Sean, only to find Sean was followed by Elijah, who, judging from the gleeful expression on his face, was up to no good.

“Hey look! You two are under the mistletoe!”

Elijah giggled and sure enough, when we looked up the bright green sprig was hanging from a deep red satin ribbon. I blushed furiously, and Billy just snorted.

“Well, you’ve got the wrong bloke for the job, if you expect Dom to kiss me.”

“Why, not your type, Billy? I find that hard to believe.”

Sean dug an elbow into Elijah’s rib, but the kid kept going.

“So, do it. Snog and get it over with. Unless you are too chicken shit to do it.’”

Something hardened in the two of us at the exact same time, I could feel it. We were never a pair to back down from a challenge. Not that, I had an ulterior motive or anything.

“Dom, you don’t have to do this, but-“

“No, no, it’s ok.”

His eyes shone with pity and I couldn’t help but smirk. I would give Boyd the kiss of his life, make him wish I was the bloke he was pining over. I stepped closer to him, my nose tickling at the smell of him-wine, yeasty bread, and spice, and wrapped one arm around his waist with a slight growl. His free hand snaked up and over my shoulder, and he tilted his head back just a bit, to allow for our noses to not bump into each other. His eyes were locked into my own, and when my gaze flicked onto his lips, his lids dropped shyly, and the sight of the shadows of his lashes on his cheeks undid me.

I caught his lips with my own, and drank from him like he was the fountain of youth and I was a dying man. He made a startled noise in the back of his throat, and I could hear the small noise of glass hitting the floor, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t stop. Not when he tasted like blackberries and butter, and the hot air from his nose would tickle my cheeks just so. Not when the sounds of our lips pulling away from each other then mashing together were so damned alluring. I whimpered softly, sure that teeth clicking, and tongues lapping had never been such a branding experience in my entire life.

It was only when a throat cleared that the two of us pulled apart. Sean wore a small smile, and had a funny shaped box in his hand. Elijah was standing behind him, smug grin on his face, and a small hand planted firmly on Sean’s shoulder.

“We’re gonna go, head out.”

Billy had recovered his ability to speak, unlike me, and his manners had also been revived as well.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to-“

“You burned the bread, Bill. I don’t know about Seanie, but I don’t like burnt bread.”

Bill frowned and pulled away from me, careful to avoid the bits of glass on the floor.

“But, we can make more bread, I don’t-“

Sean held up a hand, a guilty expression on his face.

“We ate before we got here, and we think you two have a bit to talk about. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Billy was an adorable shade of red, while I was torn between smirking and blushing myself. We had just _kissed,_ a real live kiss, and now, he wasn’t mad at me anymore. At least, I hoped a guy couldn’t bear a grudge after a kiss like that.

“Your Secret Santa gift is on the table, Bill, from me.” Elijah motioned to a bright green gift back, which in turn reminded me that I owed the guy his gift.

“Elijah, here, Happy Christmas mate.”

I offered up the small bag, and he read the card with a grin on his face.

“For all my porn and chocolate needs. I don’t think I want to ask, but I have a good idea…”

“It’s a gift card to Blockbuster, and some chocolate.”

I grinned cheekily, and he snorted, while grabbing at his keys. Billy and Sean were already at the door, Billy speaking to him in hushed tones and Sean politely but firmly refusing.

“Have a good evening you guys. Merry Christmas.”

He patted me on the shoulder, and guided Elijah out, hand gently on the center of his back. Billy’s door closed softly, and when I turned around to face him, I found he was a bundle of energy and nerves. He was clearing away the shards of glass on the floor, removing the bread from the oven, changing the music to something soft and jazzy--doing everything he could to avoid me. I caught him when he scurried over to the table, and held him gently by the wrists.

“Billy, talk to me.”

He swallowed hard, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down, and I could see the thin sheen of sweat that had formed on his throat.

“So I guess you know who I was talking about now.”

I smiled. “I do. And I understand now why you were so upset. I was an ass.”

He smiled softly and looked down into the flame of one of the long candles he had set on the table. “You were.”

“Bill-“

I struggled over what to say, my mouth forming all kinds of declarations, but my head warning me against voicing them.

“You never got your gift, Dom.”

I sighed, both irritated and grateful for the change of subject, and followed his lead.

“I dunno which one of you was my Santa.”

“It was me. I couldn’t figure out what to get you, and the one time I asked you, you made a joke.”

I released one of his wrists to pull his chin up so he could see me when I told him. “I wasn’t joking Billy. You are all I wanted for Christmas.”

His soft smile stretched into a full-grown grin, and he tilted his head up and to the side, to accommodate my greedy mouth. Our kiss was just as tender, just and unnerving, and full of promises. I drank each one down, and when the need to breathe drove us apart, I curled my fingers with his, and brought his hands to my lips.

“Come on, Bill, I want to unwrap my Christmas present.”

And while we might not have been graceful, and there was quite a bit of breathless laughter and jokes, soon the laughter turned to gasps, the gasps into whimpers, and we let instinct and longing guide us into a sweet blissful night.

I held him close that night, and mused like I tended to in the early morning, when my brain was half working, but full of profound thoughts. I thought of friendship and of how blind we can be when we are too close to that which we most desire. Billy nuzzled the dip between my chest, and planted a wet sleepy kiss there, and I shuddered, and drew him closer, glad, so glad, that he was in my life, though I was unsure how we got to this place or where Bill and I would go from here. Sometime during the early morning, or very late night, I came to the following conclusion: my life changed dramatically (over a bowl of Fruit Loops at that) and it was all Sean Astin’s fault.

I promised myself, as I dozed off, I would show my gratitude to the hobbit, and the next morning I sent him a gift basket, custom made, and full of boxes of fruit loops.


End file.
